Thieves

Do you have any thieves in your life? I do. Lots of them. Facebook, blogs, this blog, Pinterest, overscheduling, just to name a few. They steal my time. Too much of it. And it's only because I let them. There are other kinds of thieves, too. Maybe the same thief tends to creep up over & over again in your life. I know that's true in my own life. Maybe some of them rarely stop by. Maybe some only try to break in once in awhile, when your defences are weak. Maybe some of the aforementioned thieves mysteriously turn from a genuinely nice friend into a greedy thief after you let your guard down.

More examples of possible thieves...thieves of a different nature.

How about the thief of selfishness? Too much "me time", anyone? Do you feel "me time" is your "right"? Do you demand your own way all the time, stealing away the joy that comes from giving and laying down your life for others? It is better to give than to receive...

Anger? It is surprising how much energy it takes to stay angry. 

Covetousness? Do you wonder why you are never content? Perhaps the thief of covetousness has stolen your joy. 

Laziness? Does your slothfulness steal away projects that could be completed, things that never seem to get done?

If you are saved, you know that these other kinds of thieves are actually called sin. You know that Christians can have victory over these, too. We do not need to be defeated by them.

Perhaps you opened up your door to a thief, unaware of who he really was. Maybe he looked friendly at first. Many of them do. I know that's how many thieves get in my house. Perhaps the thief negotiated with you, giving you the pros & cons of why you should let him in until you finally, somewhat reluctantly, shrugged your shoulders and said, "okay, fine. You've convinced me. Come on in." Maybe the thief just barged on in knowing you wouldn't have the willpower to stand your ground and say "no." Maybe the thief knew you were without defence, not having put on the full armour of God. Without your shield of faith or sword of the Spirit you looked like an easy target.

It's time for me to take a firm stance against some of the thieves in my life. Time is precious. Time is short. I'm letting too many of my "hobbies" turn into thieves who are stealing time away from those who matter most to me and, more importantly, to the Lord. It's time to boot them out and tell them they are no longer welcome here. It's time to defend myself and defend my most treasured "earthly" possessions against these thieves...

Those of you who know me will know where to find me and how to reach me. Oh, and don't count on reaching me through facebook "in time" if you have an important message for me :-)

I'll likely be back...but only after I've beefed up my security :-)

Keep you heart toward heaven,



Note: I wrote this up several days ago, but today I read some related reading that addresses smashing down your idols (from a site called biblical homemaking.)